by Amy Tintera
He took in a shaky breath and pointed down to the cases on the bottom shelf. There were three of them, with about fifty vials per case. The liquid inside was murky, almost gray.
“Pull them out,” I said. “All of them.”
A sound above me made me pause, glance up at the ceiling. Running. The sound of a hundred Reboots running. The ceiling was shaking, laughing and shouting filling the air.
Addie had done it.
I smiled before focusing on the human again, who was still standing there staring at me. I jerked my head at him and he got down on his knees and pulled the first case off the shelf, stealing a glance in my direction.
“You’ve killed us all,” he whispered.
“How do you figure?” I gestured to the vials around me. “I’d say you’re the guilty ones, injecting us with this crap.”
“We’re trying to protect ourselves from you,” he said, wiping his hand across his nose and setting the second case on top of the first. “Now you’ve . . .” He pointed to the ceiling, to the eighth floor, where he must have also recognized the sound of Reboots running. “You’ve let them all out.”
“We saved them.”
Bishop grunted his disagreement and placed a third case on top of the stack. “There. That’s it.”
“You sure those are the right ones? Because I’m going to go out there and test it right away. I’ll come back for you if it’s wrong. Trust me, you don’t want me to come back.”
He nodded. “That’s it.”
I wanted to smile and scream and jump up and down, but I held it back. I was so close. All I had to do was get out of the building.
I leaned down to grab the vials.
I realized my mistake as soon as I took my eyes off Bishop.
He sprinted out of the glass room. I whirled around and stumbled after him.
Too late. My hands hit the glass.
I was locked inside.
THIRTY-THREE
BISHOP’S FACE BROKE INTO A GRIN AS HE STARED AT ME FROM the other side of the glass. He fumbled around in his pocket and produced a com, almost dropping it as he held it up to his mouth.
“Bishop,” he said into it. “Medical lab on the seventh floor. Tell Officer Mayer and Ms. Palm to get to Austin right away. I’ve got One-seventy-eight.”
I’ve got One-seventy-eight. The words rang in my ears, caused my throat to close up. He couldn’t have me. I wasn’t failing because of this one little human.
I pulled the gun out of my pocket. The glass couldn’t be bulletproof.
It couldn’t be.
I fired one shot. The bullet flew straight through, leaving a spiderweb of cracks around the hole. Bishop’s eyes widened, and he took several steps back, slamming into a lab table.
I grinned, lifting the gun again.
Nothing.
I was out of bullets. I reached for my tranq gun, which had plenty of shots left, but that was useless with the human on the other side of the glass.
Bishop let out a visible sigh and spoke into his com again. “No, it’s fine. Come quick, though.”
“Don’t move,” I heard a voice on the other end of the com say. “Keep her in your sights.”
Bishop swallowed and nodded, taking a few more steps back from the glass.
I looked down at the vials at my feet. No. I wasn’t letting Callum die a blank, emotionless HARC robot.
I was getting out of here.
I lifted my boot and kicked the glass as hard as I could.
A crack snaked up from the bullet hole to the ceiling.
I kicked it again. Another crack.
Bishop stumbled as he scrambled to the other side of the lab. “Hey!” he yelled into the com. “Hurry! She’s—”
The glass shattered. I let out a whoop and launched myself across the lab, leaving the vials for now. Bishop was headed for the door and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
I grabbed him by the hair and he yelled as I jerked his head back. He gasped, strangled noises escaping his mouth.
“Please don’t kill me,” he sobbed.
I didn’t want to prove him right, so I punched him instead. I hit him so hard I heard a crack and he sunk to the ground. I fired a dart into his neck for good measure and his body sagged.
Racing back to the vials, I scooped them up in my arms and bolted out of the lab and through the hallway. It was still empty, and I threw open the door to the stairwell.
Reboots streamed down the stairs, running and jumping and laughing. They all had on their helmets and field gear and I didn’t see a single guard among the crowd.
I stepped into the crowd and let them carry me along down the stairs. Explosions and gunshots rocked the building but the cheers and excitement didn’t fade in the least. I couldn’t help grinning.
We were almost free.
As we poured through the door on the ground floor, I saw the lobby was full of smoke and dead or unconscious HARC officers. I clutched the cases of vials close to my chest as we burst through the back door. The early morning sun burned my eyes and I squinted as I sprinted across the grass to the trees where I’d left Callum.
Two big HARC shuttles were parked immediately to my left. Addie stood in front of one, directing Reboots. She beamed at the sight of me. The blood was gone from her forehead, and I felt a tiny burst of relief that she was okay.
“I’ll take those!” she called, rushing over. I dumped the cases in her outstretched arms and plucked out one vial for Callum. “Get him quick. We’ve got to go!”
Addie turned back to the shuttles and I raced to the fence, wrapping my fingers around the metal and hurling my body over. My momentum carried me into the trees, where I vaulted a fallen log, clutching the antidote. The hole was just ahead of me and I quickly tossed the leaves and branches covering it aside.
Callum was curled up in a ball in the dirt, his eyes half-open. He didn’t move or make any indication he’d heard me approach.
I lowered myself down in the hole and tugged him up to a sitting position. He was limp, an empty shell.
I jabbed the needle into his arm and pushed the liquid in.
Nothing happened.
It would take a minute. That was all it was. I balked at the alternatives as I untied his legs and arms and plopped down in his lap. I put my hands on his cheeks, my panicked attempts at breathing filling the silence. His head swung back and forth as he looked beyond me at nothing in the distance.
“Callum,” I whispered, my fingers inching up into his hair.
What if it was too late? What if it wasn’t the right one? My throat closed and I pressed my lips together to keep in the scream. What if that human had given me something else? What if—
Callum took in a sharp breath and his head jerked up. He blinked a few times and color bled back into his face.
The laugh escaped my chest as a strange sort of gasp and I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. I trailed kisses across his cheeks until he laughed, too.
I ran my hands up to his neck and stared into his eyes. “You feel okay? You feel normal again?”
A smile spread across his face. The big, happy, hopeful smile I loved. He nodded, leaning forward until his lips brushed my cheek. “You’re shockingly good sometimes, you know that?”
I laughed and gave him another quick kiss and hopped up. “We’ve got to get out of here.” I dug my fingers into the dirt and scrambled up from the hole, turning to help Callum. He’d already climbed out behind me and was on his feet, staring at the scene in front of him with wide eyes.
Reboots ran across the lawn and officers lay unconscious on the ground. The back of the HARC building was riddled with bullet holes. Smoke poured from several windows on the upper levels.
I reached for Callum’s hand we ran out of the trees and launched ourselves over the fence and across the grass. “In! In!” Addie yelled. “Everyone, now!”
I didn’t see Tony or any of the other rebels anywhere, and I paused near Addie on
my way to the second shuttle. “Tony?” I yelled.
“Gone. They made it out.” She slammed shut the back door to her shuttle and tossed me the tracker locator. “I got another one inside for my shuttle.”
“Thanks.” I passed the locator to Callum as I threw open the driver’s door to the second shuttle. I gestured for him to get in, and he raised his eyebrow.
“You’re driving?”
“Just get in,” I said with a laugh. He climbed into the passenger’s seat and I followed, clicking the door shut behind me. The dash in front of me looked very much like the diagram Tony had drawn. The lever in the center took us up or down; the buttons on either side were for landing gear and communications. Someone had already started the shuttle, so everything in front of me was lit up, ready for takeoff.
Bullets pinged the door and I squinted out the window to see a few straggler HARC officers staggering across the lawn. I quickly grasped the center lever, like Tony had taught me, and pushed it up.
We were off the ground. I pushed it higher and we lurched. I could hear people in the back yelling and crashing into one another, and Callum was gripping the dashboard in front of him, but I focused on flying, pushing the lever forward to increase our speed.
“Here,” I said, pulling out my knife. “Give them the locator. They all need to get their trackers out as fast as possible.”
He nodded and disappeared into the back of the shuttle. I pushed the lever to the right until I could see the other shuttle hovering not far from us. I followed its lead as it swung north.
A hand brushed under my chin and I jumped, turning to see Callum. He grinned as he unhooked my helmet and kissed my cheek.
“I’m driving here,” I said with a laugh as he kissed me again.
“I noticed. What a show-off,” he said with a chuckle. “Saving just me wasn’t enough for you?”
I grinned as he kissed me again. He plopped down in the seat next to me, both our helmets in his lap. Behind me, I could hear the clinks as trackers hit the floor of the shuttle and the Reboots celebrated.
“Do we know where we’re going?” Callum asked, leaning forward to look out the window. The slums were below us, and a few humans were beginning to mill around.
“Addie has the map; we’re following her,” I said. “But I know the general direction if we get separated.”
As we watched, the side door of Addie’s shuttle opened a crack and tiny pieces of silver caught the sunlight as they rained down. Trackers.
“Hey!” I called, twisting around in my seat. “Toss your trackers out the door!” A few Reboots nodded, and I turned to face forward.
We passed over the HARC fence at the edge of Austin and I leaned sideways to look out the window to my right. The sky was clear behind me, the HARC building growing smaller and smaller in the distance.
I let out a long sigh as I turned to look at Callum, a smile spreading across my face at his excited expression. I focused on the sky in front of me again, gripping the lever and pushing it forward just a little. We were a few shuttle lengths behind Addie, and I pushed the button marked cruise. The shuttle continued forward as I let go of the lever.
“Soooooo . . .”
I turned around to see a girl about my age gripping the edges of the pilot’s door, a crooked smile on her face. She tilted her head to one side, her dark ponytail swinging.
“We’re sort of wondering where we’re going.” She looked from me to Callum. “And who you guys are.”
A younger Reboot stood on his toes to peek over her shoulder. “I heard Addie say she was One-seventy-eight.”
“Yeah,” I said, holding my hand out. “Wren. One-seventy-eight.”
She raised her eyebrows as she shook my hand. “Beth. One-forty-two.”
“Callum,” he said. He didn’t offer his number, but I saw her glance at his wrist and frown in confusion.
“We’re headed north,” I said. “Toward the old Texas border. There’s supposedly a Reboot reservation there.”
The Reboots behind her got quieter, several of them shuffling closer to hear.
“Where Reboots are living by themselves?” Beth asked.
“Yes. That’s what we’ve heard, anyway. We have a map.”
Beth’s eyes bounced around the shuttle. “Don’t you think you might scare the crap out of them, arriving in a couple HARC shuttles?”
“We’re landing several miles from the reservation and we’ll walk in.” I left out the part where the human rebels suggested we do that, to avoid getting shot down. We could fill them in about the rebels later.
Beth looked from me to Callum. The way everyone stood behind her quietly made me think she was one of the highest numbers in the Austin facility, if not the very highest.
She let out a soft laugh, taking a few steps back. “Interesting plan. I hope it works.” She jerked her head toward the front window. “Some of you guys should take a look.”
I turned my attention forward as a few Reboots stepped into the pilot’s area. The shuttles weren’t meant to fly too far off the ground, so we weren’t high above the trees. Open land spread out in front of us, a lake sparkling in the distance. I could see pieces of old, deserted highways where greenery was poking through the black asphalt.
Callum leaned forward in his chair, blinking at the scene around him. He was still a little pale, but otherwise looked like himself.
“Do you feel okay?” I asked softly, scooting sideways until I could put my hand on his leg.
He turned, taking my hand and pressing his lips against it. “I’m fine.”
He slid one hand up my neck and inched forward until he could press his lips to mine. I reached for his hand, melting into the kiss. Behind me, someone cleared her throat.
“Are we kissing or flying?” Beth asked, her annoyance tinged with amusement.
I pulled away from Callum with a grin. “Right. Flying.”
The shuttle quieted some as we continued north, the occasional Reboot wandering up front to check out the view. The land was mostly trees and grass, but there was an occasional animal or two. We flew over a big group of cows at one point, and I wondered how the Reboots in the reservation got food. Did they hunt? Farm?
The Austin Reboots didn’t spend too much time up front with me and Callum. They mostly spoke in hushed whispers behind us, casting suspicious glances our way. I couldn’t really blame them.
Many of the Reboots stared at me but didn’t come over to talk, and I ran my finger over the 178 printed on my wrist.
“You think the numbers will matter there?” I asked quietly.
“I hope not,” Callum said, leaning back with a sigh. “I mean, I don’t think so. HARC is the one who started all that.”
But we bought into it. We separated ourselves into groups and acted accordingly. I glanced back at Beth, who was standing with two girls and a guy. I didn’t even need to ask to know they were the One-twenties of the Austin facility. Their faces were serious, the guy’s eyebrows knitted together as he listened to Beth. The other Reboots milled around them, but no one came too close.
I had no idea how Reboots would divide themselves up when left to their own devices. Maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe Callum was right, and the numbers wouldn’t matter without HARC around.
I looked up at him and smiled, turning my wrist over so I couldn’t see my number. I hoped so.
Callum straightened suddenly, pointing in front of him.
“Look.”
I turned to his window to see the remains of a city. It was bigger than any one I’d known and lay smack in the middle of a circle of highways. Parts of the city looked untouched from this distance, but as we flew closer I could see destroyed buildings.
“Which city was that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I think we’re too far west for the original Dallas or Fort Worth.” He looked at me with a smile. “We should go see those sometime. I heard they’re huge.”
I’d never considered going to any of the old cities. I
wouldn’t have guessed it would be appealing, but I felt a spark of excitement at the prospect. “We should.”
Addie’s shuttle started to descend about twenty minutes later, and I held my hand out to Callum. “Helmet. Put yours on, too.” I glanced at the Reboots in back. “Everyone put your helmets on and brace yourselves!”
“But I don’t see anything,” Callum said worriedly as he handed my helmet over and strapped on his own.
I scanned the area in front of us. The land was pretty flat, but I couldn’t see that far at this height.
“We’re landing a few miles out,” I said. “We still have to walk a ways.”
He nodded, taking one more glance around as we headed for the earth. “We’re totally going to crash, aren’t we?”
I grinned at him. “Probably.”
I pushed the lever down and tried to lower the shuttle slowly, but the ground was suddenly right there and we were smashing into it. I locked my arms against the dash as we flipped once, twice, three times. We ended up on our sides, Callum crumpled against the window, and when I pulled off my seat belt I tumbled on top of him.
“Sorry,” I said with a laugh, grabbing the edge of the driver’s seat to pull my way to the door. I shoved it open and crawled out, landing in orange-red dirt. Addie’s shuttle skidded to a stop a few yards away, and I squinted at it in the sun. She’d had a rough landing, too, but at least they didn’t flip. The land beyond her shuttle was flat and dry, the sky stretching out massively above the red dirt.
A strong wind whipped across my face as I offered my hand to Callum and he climbed out beside me. I opened the back door of the shuttle to see the Reboots were all piled on top of one another but grinning, their eyes wide as they took in the scene behind me. They chatted happily as they emerged.
“Hey, nice landing!” Addie called, and I turned to see her standing next to her shuttle, grinning.
I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. “They’re all still alive!”
“Sort of a low bar you set for yourself, huh?” Beth asked, playfully punching my shoulder as I helped her out of the shuttle.
I laughed again, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. The chatter and giggles around me stopped all at once. Everyone went quiet.